title: Quantitative Epstein-Barr virus viral load monitoring in pediatric liver transplantation.
abstract: The aim of this study was to determine whether the implementation of the quantitative Epstein-Barr virus polymerase chain reaction (qEBV-PCR) test in 2003 decreased the incidence of posttransplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD) and PTLD-related mortality. Of the 128 children who underwent liver transplantation between January 1994 and May 2007, 110 (85.9%) survived. Patients were divided into pre (1994 to 2002; n = 86) and post (2003 to 2007; n = 42) EBV-PCR groups. There were no between-group differences in mean age, percentage of patients < 12 months old, or seronegative for EBV. The incidence rates of primary EBV infection in the pre- and post-EBV-PCR groups were 14.0% and 33.3%, respectively (P < .05). In contrast, the pre- and post-EBV-PCR groups showed similar incidences of symptomatic EBV infection (31.3% vs 35.7%; P = .625) and PTLD (10.5% vs 9.5%; P = .869), but different survival rates (80.2% vs 97.6%; P < .001). Five of nine PTLD patients in the pre-EBV-PCR group died of PTLD, but there was no PTLD-related mortality in the post-EBV-PCR group, indicating that PTLD-related mortality decreased after qEBV-PCR monitoring. These findings suggested that frequent EBV viral load monitoring and subsequent modulation of immunosuppression can reduce PTLD and PTLD-related mortality among pediatric liver transplant patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: J Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Y-J
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: S G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: H-S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Chi
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D007165:Immunosuppression Therapy / Q000379:methods; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000145:classification / Q000601:surgery; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000276:immunology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008232:Lymphoproliferative Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000379:methods; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral